


Ben 10: ExOS

by CarthArts



Category: Ben 10 Series
Genre: Minor Character Death
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-10
Updated: 2020-10-10
Packaged: 2021-03-08 01:47:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,611
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26927602
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CarthArts/pseuds/CarthArts
Summary: There are many ways to tell a story. When we tell a story, we never tell it the same way twice. Here's one way to tell the story of Ben Tennyson, who one night found himself living a life that changed everything.
Comments: 1
Kudos: 2





	Ben 10: ExOS

**Author's Note:**

> Rebooted version of a story I worked on with some friends between 2018-2019.

Summer wasn't always about fighting aliens and saving the world, but for Ben Tennyson, it had become every day, full-time deal. He had kept his identity a secret; until an attack on his hometown by the evil Vilgax forced it out into the open.

The school bus dropped Ben and Gwen off in front of the Tennyson household, Ben barely dragging along behind his more intelligent cousin. When they got inside, they found Carl, Sandra, Frank, Lily, and Max sitting in the living room.

"Rough day at school, Ben?" Carl asked. Ben dropped his bag to the floor.

"Not really, but Dr. Animo attacked the school, which wouldn't have been any trouble if I hadn't had to figure out how to use a new alien, some ice lizard guy. I don't have a name for him yet... why are you guys all here? Am I in trouble?"

"No, Ben, a representative from the local news channel called, they said they want to interview you!" Sandra said.

"Whoa, what?!" Ben exclaimed.

"I'm not sure if it's a good idea, wouldn't it attract unwanted attention?" Lily said in her usual monotone voice.

"It's not like the Omnitrix hasn't already done that."

"I say let him, let the doofus make an even bigger doofus out of himself on national TV." Gwen chimed in.

"It's up to you if you want to do this, Ben. You have our support." Sandra said, waving her hand between herself and her husband. Ben looked over to Max to see what he would say.

"I mean, it's not like your powers are really a secret anymore, I don't see the harm in it." Ben thought about it for a moment.

"You know what? Yeah. Let's do it!"

* * *

Later that night, they drove to the studio. The Tennysons found themselves standing off to the side of the set, with Ben eagerly waiting for his cue. He saw what he presumed to be the reporter talking to one of the staff. The man was wearing a dark blue suit with a red tie, a pair of glasses, and had a notable grey streak along the side of his darker hair, showing his age.

Ben quickly ducked back behind the curtain as the man came forward to sit down behind his desk, then the staff member he was just talking to counted down to begin the show.

"Tonight on the Harangue Show, we have a special guest. This boy saved Bellwood not only once, but twice. How about you come on up here?"

Ben proceeded onto the main set, now in full view of the cameras. He waved to an audience that wasn't there.

"So, what's your name?"

"Benjamin Tennyson, but you can call me just 'Ben' if you don't mind." he replied.

"So Ben, how is it that a 10-year-old kid such as yourself was able to save the day?"

Ben thought about it for a moment. "Well, if you've seen all those aliens fighting bad guys on TV, they've actually all been me." Ben felt somewhat uneasy at first; this being his first time being interviewed about his heroics.

"And how is it that you're able to transform into these creatures?" To answer, Ben raised his left arm, showing the alien watch that had clamped itself to his wrist earlier that summer.

"It's called the Omnitrix. It's one of the most powerful devices in the universe! It crashed-landed on earth the first night of the summer road trip with my Grandpa Max and my dweeb of a cousin." Gwen let out a huff from off-camera, loud enough for Ben to hear. His eyes darted to the left, and he smiled, fully aware that she heard. Ben started to feel a bit more comfortable telling his story.

"Right." Harangue responded lukewarmly to their antics, adjusting some papers with his hands. "So who was that evil villain that attacked Bellwood the other night?"

"His name is Vilgax, he's this alien warlord who's been after me ever since I got this thing, but I don't think he'll be a problem anymore!" Ben exclaimed - He heard his younger, more annoying self through the sound of someone's phone, playing a recording of the interview entirely too loudly.

A few years had passed since the night of that interview, Ben's continued the hero work almost nonstop, and has even become something of an icon outside of Bellwood. He hasn't let the recognition get to his head. After all, as his grandfather once said: "Being the hero is its own reward."... which he may have read off of a greeting card earlier that day. Ultimately, being the hero was still quite fun for Ben Tennyson.

* * *

That was then, this is now. Ben found himself pinned to the ground by the same adversary he thought he'd finally ridden himself of.

He had come home from a long day of hero work. It was late at night and had started to rain. The Omnitrix was timed out after yet another battle with Dr. Animo; he would've used XLR8 otherwise. He instead found himself taking the bus, which was strangely empty apart from himself and the driver, and the guy with the phone.

When it got to his street, he noticed something strange; no cars anywhere, as if everyone had evacuated the area. Police barricades forced the bus to stop, blocking off deep tracks that had been made in the pavement.

"Let me off the bus! Now!" Ben yelled.

"Ey, kid, who the hell do you think you are?" The driver replied angrily.

Ben pulled his jacket sleeve back to reveal the Omnitrix. "I'm Ben Tennyson." he said. The driver immediately opened the door and let Ben out. He took off in a sprint past the barriers and followed the tracks. He found his house in shambles, a hole busted clean through from the front door to the backyard.

"Mom?! Dad?!" he yelled out. No reply. "CARL?! SANDRA?!" he tried again, still nothing. He then noticed that the high-tech weapon Carl hung on the wall years ago was no longer there. When he got to the backyard, he found the cause of the wreckage: a spherical pod with spikes had the house, with the imposing silhouette of his archenemy against it.

"Vilgax?! What are you doing here?" he asked.

"Waiting for you to arrive." Vilgax slowly turned around, and what Ben saw made him see nothing but red. His father's lifeless body draped over one of his arms.

"No..." Ben fell to his knees. Vilgax dropped the body, as if it were nothing to him, and took a few steps toward the Omnitrix wielder.

"Your incompetence in saving your father's life is pathetic. Surrender the Omnitrix, or your mother will meet the same fate." Vilgax demanded. He then pinned down Ben's right arm with his foot, crushing it. It was hard for Ben to focus on anything other than the immense pain he felt.

The Omnitrix activated a familiar self-defense mechanism, an EMP blast, as Vilgax reached for it. It wasn't enough to knock him away but provided the device enough time to rapidly evolve in the dire circumstances. Black markings that looked like wires running through Ben's skin and grey nodes developing on his fingers.

With a slight movement of his hand, the device emitted a familiar green flash, transforming Ben into Diamondhead. He was now able to control his transformations singlehandedly. Vilgax was surprised by this, and Diamondhead took it as a chance to escape. He generated some spikes out of his forearm, stabbing the underside of Vilgax's foot.

Sandra came out with the weapon and fired a charged shot directly into Vilgax's tentacled face, blasting off his respirator and further disorienting him.

"Claws off my son, Vilgax!" she yelled, and ran over to Diamondhead, still lying on the ground. "Ben, are you okay?"

Diamondhead rose up, still feeling a significant amount of pain in his now broken arm, despite having transformed into a being with diamond-hard skin. Vilgax, struggling to breathe, swung one of his arms and knocked Sandra away, sending the weapon and herself skidding along the ground.

"NO!" Diamondhead shouted as his eyes glowed yellow. He produced a massive hand out of the ground, and he wrapped the fingers tightly around the waist of his adversary.

"You're in trouble now, Vilgax. I'm gonna make you wish you never came back." Diamondhead said, groaning with the increasing pain in his arm. Vilgax struggled to speak with the lack of his respirator but managed to choke out a few words.

"This... isn't... over... Tennyso-" Diamondhead cut him off. "No, we're not doing this again. You've taken too much from me. I'm not letting you get away this time."

For the first time ever, Vilgax felt genuine fear at the sight of his enemy. This wasn't the same Ben Tennyson he'd fought before. Before he could finish that thought, the inside of Diamondhead's large hand produced an endless amount of spear-like shards, which stabbed multiple times through Vilgax's torso.

Vilgax seized up in pain from this, and an orange fluid started to seep out from the lower part of the giant rocky hand. Diamondhead then retracted the spears and threw him down hard; the once fearsome Chimerian warlord was now lying on the ground, just barely able to breathe.

Diamondhead slowly walked over to the body. He took a second to think about what he was about to do, every fight with Vilgax he's ever had flashed through his mind, and that was enough for him. With nearly the last of his energy, he formed his hand into a sharp point and rammed it into the center of Vilgax's chest.

With a red flash, Diamondhead transformed back into Ben, his left arm still deep in the monster's chest cavity. He mustered as much leverage as he could possibly get and pulled his arm, and the Omnitrix, out of the remains. His arm covered and shirt stained with orange blood. He slumped down, passing out from the pain in the other arm. He could swear he saw the Omnitrix turn yellow before his eyes closed.

* * *

A few hours later, the rain had stopped; the sun was just barely peeking over the horizon. Ben slowly woke up to light sounds of various machines whirring and beeping. When his eyes adjusted to the light, he realized that he was in a hospital bed, his right arm in a sling. He looked over to his side to find his cousin and his grandfather asleep in a couple of old chairs.

"G...Gwen? Gwen, wake up..." Ben said, his voice coming out hoarse. Gwen started to stir, and she looked up to see a familiar pair of green eyes looking back. "Mmm, what?... Ben! Hey, Grandpa, he's awake." She started tapping on Max's arm, causing him to wake too. "Wha...what happened?" Ben asked. He then looked over to the other side of the room. "Mom?! What happened to mom?!"

"Try to relax, kiddo. Your arm's still broken." Max said. "Sandra's been out cold for a little while."

"On the bright side, the nurse said that you're recovering at an unusually fast rate, maybe it has something to do with the Omnitrix?" Gwen wondered.

"Y...yeah, maybe." Ben looked at the Omnitrix. The device's standard bright green was replaced by grey. The watch had seemingly used up all of its energy trying to preserve Ben's life. He then noticed the wires and nodes embedded into his hand.

"What happened to Vilgax? Wait... didn't he destroy the house? Where am I gonna go when I get out of here?" Ben asked.

"You're welcome to stay with me in the Rustbucket. Later Gwen and I are gonna see if we can salvage some of your stuff." Max answered. "Thanks, Grandpa." Ben said with a sigh of relief.

Then there was a knock at the door. "Come in." Max said. To Ben's surprise, it was the very same reporter that interviewed him years ago.

"If this is about doing an interview on what happened, I'm not interested." Ben remarked coldly. "Well, I did want to talk about what happened, but as a friend, not a reporter."

"What's there to say? I lost? Yeah, sure, Vilgax is dead, but so is my dad! Mom's injured, my arm's broken... and all because of this stupid watch." Ben said. "I don't even deserve to have it anymore."

"Ben, I know I may just be a reporter to you, but I want you to know, I think you've grown a lot since we first met. You've proven it time and time again, I don't think there's anyone more worthy to have that thing on their wrist."

Ben looked up at him coldly. "Then why did I lose?"

"Technically speaking, you didn't. I believe it's called a 'pyrrhic victory' - It means that the losses outweigh the gains. Again, I know I'm just a reporter, but I feel like there's a lot of risks in your line of work, as unorthodox as it may be." Harangue explained. "You can't save everyone. You never know, there may come a day where you can't make it out of it." Ben brought his head back down.

"Well, I'll be on my way, busy news day ahead, as usual. I just came in to check how you were doing. Oh! And I have something for you." Harangue presented a plastic bag with a label reading '#122705', what was inside was the damaged respirator mask of his former adversary. "You told me in past interviews that you liked to keep souvenirs related to your adventures. It's the only thing we were able to recover after we got clearance to the area."

Ben said nothing. Absolutely nothing. "I'll just, uh... put this on the table..." Harangue did so and swiftly left the room. Ben then started moving his left hand around, desperately trying to get the Omnitrix to function, but it was still all grey. "I've gotta get back out there and help, what if someone's in trouble?"

"Don't worry, Ben. The Plumbers will take care of it until you're up and about again." Max said.

"The Plumbers? I thought you guys were retired." Ben questioned as he stopped moving his hand.

"Semi-retired. In the case of a major extraterrestrial emergency, we're called back into action. We don't know what's going to happen once word gets out that Vilgax is dead."

"Yeah... you're welcome for that." Ben mumbled.

"What's that?" Gwen asked.

"Nothing." Ben quickly responded.

* * *

A few days later, Ben's arm was put in a cast; and he was discharged. The Omnitrix continued to display a grey color while Ben was recovering. He did his best to live life as an average teen for the next five weeks, which was an above-average recovery rate. However, there was always this... itch. He kept trying to activate it to no avail. He didn't feel right just sitting in the Rustbucket for so long.

As he reached the end of his Sumo Slammers game for the umpteenth time, a game he was skilled enough at this point to complete with only one hand, the Omnitrix finally turned back to green. He raised it to his face and started moving his fingers, attempting to learn the new controls. This was a new game to him, having to practically re-learn how to use the watch.

It didn't take him long to pick up on how it worked though, flicking his hand open activated the main controls, flicking his index and pinky fingers scrolled through his forms. He continued to scroll through the icons, cringing at the sight of a ghastly figure. But then he stopped at the sight of another icon: the silhouette of a slender, imposing form with what appeared to be tendrils hanging from its face.

He quickly scrolled off, shaking off the uncomfortable feeling it gave him. He scrolled back through his aliens to find an old favorite, the black and blue speedster he called "XLR8". He clenched his fist and transformed into the form, with familiar feelings of his skeletal structure morphing into a more reptilian shape, his skin turning blue, his hands turning into three-pointed claws.

"The new controls are gonna take some getting used to..." XLR8 said before he put down his visor and took off outside and down the road. "...but it feels good to be back."

He continued down the road, running alongside a bus. Several kids and their parents waved as he went by, but one older woman... hissed at him. He had this look of confusion that no one would've been able to see behind his mask; he quickly shook it off, so he didn't lose his focus and run into something.

XLR8 made his way to the city, almost in hopes of finding some sort of crime to stop, anything would do. It wasn't long before he heard a scream. "Help! That guy took my purse!"

" _Perfect._ " XLR8 thought. Something simple to start with. It'd been a while since he'd stopped an average crime. Most of his recent battles over the last few months had been taken up by Dr. Animo's various schemes and other threats of similarly low caliber. XLR8 took off in the direction of the scream, but quickly stopped and transformed back into Ben when he got close, as to not scare the already distressed victim.

"Which way'd he go?" Ben asked.

"Down that alley!" shouted the distressed victim.

"On it." With a quick motion of his hand, Ben transformed into the large orange canine-like form he called "Wildmutt" and immediately picked up the scent and took off running down the alley.

Wildmutt cornered the thief at the end of an alley and growled in an attempt to intimidate him, but then he felt something wet on his back. He looked up to notice that it had started to rain; when he looked back down, the criminal was gone, along with the purse. He let his head hang as he left the alley, thinking he'd failed to stop even a simple crime. When he got back, the woman was gone as well.

* * *

Sometime later, Ben made his way back to the Rustbucket, only to find Gwen sitting off to the side with her arms crossed, a familiar sight to Ben at this point.

"So, where were you?" she asked.

"I know what you're going to say, but..."

"You know you aren't fully healed yet; you should be taking a break from the hero work."

"Look, something weird is going on, when I was on the road, an old lady hissed at me from a bus. And this random criminal disappeared without a trace, along with the purse he stole, and the person he stole it from!"

"Are you sure you didn't just hit your head or something?" Gwen said. It was hard to tell if she was being condescending or genuine with her tone of voice.

"No, I... I just... " Ben stopped and sat down across from Gwen. "I don't care if my arm's still not fully healed. I told myself that as soon as the Omnitrix would let me, I would get back out there. I..." Ben stated to tear up.

"...I can't let something like that happen again."

Gwen reached out and put a hand on Ben's shoulder. "That wasn't your fault..."

"I was too late to save my own dad. I hate to say it, but Squidface may have been right, that's kind of pathetic."

Gwen wasn't sure what to say, then her phone buzzed. "Oh, sorry, I've gotta go. Emily's waiting for me."

"Emily... the same one I took to a school dance once, and to this day she's been super annoyed by me, _that_ Emily?"

"Yeah, we've been hanging out a lot."

"Well, that's..." Ben found himself unable to move. "Hey, why can't I get up?"

"Weight spell. It'll wear off by the time I get back, but you need to stay here."

Gwen's trick actually made Ben want to laugh. It was like something she would've done when they were kids.

"You're still a dweeb, you know that?"

Gwen smiled as she left. A couple more weeks passed, and Ben was fully healed and back in action. However, he had some unfinished business at the hospital.

Ben got a shower, changed his clothes, and rustled through some of the belongings Gwen and Max had recovered in the wreckage. He took two items: An old Sumo Slammers MP3 player he got when he was young, and an X-527 Hoverboard given to him by an old friend.

He took his ride slow as he reflected on everything that had happened over the last few weeks. The change in seasons didn't help, as it was starting to get colder. Some young fans playing in a yard tried to get his attention, but couldn't due to the music.

_We change as we get older, we're not to stay, the days we walked are over..._

_Now we just drive away from everything I know..._

_You're counting days on the back of your hands..._

_You turn the pages 'til you had no more plans..._

It didn't take him long to get there since he was able to avoid all the road traffic. He deactivated the hoverboard and stood in the parking lot for a moment and looked up at the window of the room where he once was. He let out a sigh, but then something caught him by surprise: the sight a gentle wave paired with some messy blonde hair. Ben started to tear up; it could only mean one thing - Sandra was finally up and about.


End file.
